Abstract

Fifteen grivet monkeys, Cercopithecus aethiops, were infected with an Ethiopian strain of Borrelia recurrentis, the causative agent of louse-borne relapsing fever. An initial spirochetemia occurred in all. Inactivity, fever, and leukocytosis accompanied the infections. Eight of the monkeys experienced 1 relapse and 1 monkey had 2 relapses. The relapses tended to be less severe than the initial infections. The only deaths, however, occurred in 2 of the 3 monkeys with severe relapses. The clinical course of the experimental infection in grivet monkeys closely resembles that of natural infections in man.